A tattoo of an Italian Mafioso emerges from an extra-large sleeveless T-shirt. Between an undercover agent, a tap on Tarzans cellphone and the wiring of Babushka, federal law enforcement agencies had enough information to shut down the sale. The Doll House couldn't expand fast enough to meet the influx of sex tourists. Gunshots flashed like fireworks in the darkness. A tattoo of an Italian Mafioso emerges from an extra-large sleeveless T-shirt. The domestic bliss lasted only a couple of weeks. "The first month, we had $15,000 in gross sales. Join the New Times community and help support While out of sight, he phoned his guy and lied about being in a particular taxi cab. But in South Florida, he was once a strip club king. "Now I'm living in hell.". He was soon promoted from DJing weddings to robbing delivery trucks for the Paccione clan (which federal court records tie to the infamous Gambino crime family). They put a hit out on him when he disappeared with the money, while Juan and Tarzan took the legal fall in Miami. Filmography (by Job) Trailers and Videos. Facilitating it. Sign Up. "They shot him in the middle of the night," Galeota continues quietly, "and buried his body behind the pavilion.". Almeida, back in Moscow, trying to work out yet another deal and not realizing that this one had already soured, managed to temporarily elude arrest. "They would describe what they looked like," Galeota says. For 18 years, Galeota ran Porky's with the same punishing justice he learned from the mob and transformed it into Miami's most notorious whorehouse, where Russian gangsters and Cuban criminals spent millions on sex and drugs. They also discovered the club was registered as a massage parlor, not a brothel. Days go by without water, and when it does arrive, it's turbid sludge from a nearby river. "I thought I would kick up my heels together like 'Oh my God, I'm finally out,'" he says. He could convince you that the sky was green." But instead of classical music, his specialty is sex. And, above all, selling it. His attorney has warned him that prosecutors will likely appeal, so he plans to stay in Panama until his case is resolved. State and local police launched an investigation in February 2009. Juan, Tarzan and law enforcement insisted there was no way hed agree to participate in the documentary. They tried to squeeze Fainberg to get Seidle. In describing Tarzan, Almeida says in the film, He struck me as an oddball. Tarzan classifies Almeida as a guy who had two drinks and thought he was Tony Montana. As for movie-star handsome, hooker-loving Yesters first impression of Tarzan: I said, This f- -king guy is trouble. Thirty minutes later, I loved the trouble., Abetted by the tumultuous state of the former Soviet Union the ruble was completely devalued and state-owned resources went to whomever had the most firepower gaining access to the submarine was surprisingly easy. "They knew some Russian guy named Tarzan who had just opened up a club in Miami called Porky's. "Thank God I'm out," he tells New Times in his first interview since his release. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Thanks for contacting us. They are willing to assume the massive risk of getting caught and going to prison for decades, because if they make just one big score they're millionaires. So if you wanna do it, the time is now, and essentially, its happening one way or another, so you might be the person to author your story. local news and culture, Michael E. Miller With dark hair and pale, wide-set eyes, teenage Tony resembled a stocky Frank Sinatra. Anthony Galeota was born October 17, 1968, on Long Island. The Coast Guard said the eight-member crew cooperated and was taken into custody. ", McDonald has succeeded, however, in chipping away at the case, persuading a judge three weeks ago to drop the trafficking charge on a technicality. His attorney has warned him that prosecutors will likely appeal, so he plans to stay in Panama until his case is resolved. When his dad lost his job, Tony paid the bills. And so with like five days prep I jumped on a plane, went to Miami, started courting the cops and the feds and the US attorneys and all the good guys, the law enforcement side of it their participation was instrumental in it, because theyre the ones that have all the evidentiary record and all the surveillance video and the photos and the wiretaps and all that stuff, most of which is the sort of visual skeleton to the film. In the early 1990s, three friends set out to hustle the Russian mob, the Cali cartel and the DEA for the score of a lifetime. And like the Italian-American crooner, he loved women a little too much. When Bill Seidle died, Galeota knew the club's days were numbered. As for his career, his only oath is that he won't let his sons follow his example. "It was a nightmare in there.". Theyre nice guys [the cartel members], and I didnt ask what they needed the submarine for., If they woke up and were hungry, they would fly a private jet to Cancun for lunch, says Tiller Russell, director of Operation Odessa. Then theyd roll to Venezuela to check out a new casino. Michael Galeota, who starred on the Disney Channel's "The Jersey" died Sunday, according to Variety. Girls charged $150 or more for sex. #Torture #PanamGovernment #LaJoyaprisonPanam #PresidentVarela #Panam #Corruption. "She would use shoe polish to change our driver's licenses so we could go to clubs and drink when we were 15. (CBS Miami). And when his mother was distraught over a broken washing machine, he filled the house with new appliances. But in South Florida, he was once a strip club king. When he heard that his old partner in crime from Porky's had moved to Panama, he flew in to meet with Galeota. Tony and Kristy were shocked and out of a job. Luckier still, a powerful Colombian inmate named Mauricio Ramrez recognized Galeota from his restaurant. 4:00AM. Two agents told him that they'd been tapping his phone for months. A friend suggested Panama. But he insists that, for once, he has done nothing wrong. But the story of how the documentary got made is nearly as crazy as the caper plot itself. Panamanian police had been casing the Doll House, Moulin Rouge, and another joint, called Havana Club, for weeks. "I've been in this business my whole life. Rats, roaches, and beetles the size of Chihuahuas crawl over inmates at night. Yester, a highly regarded affiliate of multiple cocaine cartels, opened European markets for Colombian narco-terrorist Pablo Escobar and went on the run in 1990 after being charged with cocaine trafficking. Shea fatally blasted bouncer Richard Jimenez in the face and then opened fire on the dancers, shooting one in the chest and another in the head. Kristy was a self-described "firecracker" who had also escaped from an abusive home and wanted attention. Biography. The two were married in 1994 at a wedding full of mobsters. The heavy-set Italian even signed a release. See Photos. Instead, they eat rice for lunch and dinner, drink dirty river water, and use a hole in the ground for a toilet. See Photos. "Thank God I'm out," he tells New Times in his first interview since his release. "But she's never going to forget. When youre rolling with the criminal underworld, its always weird; its really weird in Russia.. He ogled the women standing on corners in their underwear and high heels. "Another night at Porky's, another shooting," he remembers now from his prison cell in Panama. It was 1990, and Galeota transformed the place by wiring in subwoofers and bringing in New York dancers. And she launched drunken tirades at Tony after baseball games, no matter how well the all-star shortstop performed. We have a lot of laughs about it now," he says. Tony Galeota's age is expected to be 52. SO I started with the cops and I had been kind of circling the others without knowing if it was really possible or not. (A New York Police Department spokesman says records from that far back aren't available.) He ogled the women standing on corners in their underwear and high heels. The irony is not lost on Galeota that after a life of crime in Miami, he was arrested in Panama just as he was going legit. Facilitating it. "That's obstruction of justice.". Like a real-life godfather, Galeota weathered it all. While Galeota avoided testifying, Fainberg faced 30 counts including racketeering and conspiracy to traffic cocaine and heroin. "Many times, I worried about him getting killed. When Galeota stood up, he checked his T-shirt for bullet holes, but found none. But when the house of cards tumbles, John . Make a one-time donation today for as little as $1. He was a loan shark: generously offering money but punishing those who didn't pay back. But when Galeota was arrested June 19, 2011, and charged with trafficking drugs and women, he was just as innocent as Stephen King's saintly inmate. Its about 2,800 kilos, about a ton and a half of contraband. Through the air plane window, Tony Galeota could see the city's colonial churches glow like polished gold. But Tarzan a seasoned wheeler-dealer, strip club owner and former mob enforcer took it in his stride and went back to his partners with the response. The most audacious plot allegedly hatched in the back of Porky's was to purchase a former Soviet submarine for $5.5 million for a Colombian drug cartel so it could ship cocaine up the coast to California. He was 31. But the deal never happened. He was hilarious and charming and garrulous, and it was as if hed stepped right out of a Scorsese movie, Russell says, adding: You know whats the funny thing people dont know about docs? When he was 16, he knocked up his 15-year-old girlfriend at Hauppauge High School. "If you like to eat chocolate and you live in a chocolate factory, you're going to eat chocolate," he says. Facebook gives people the power. Galeota was crammed into a sweltering holding cell with 150 others. Then she'd charge my friends $50 each," he says. On June 19, 2011, Tony and his oldest son, 15-year-old Anthony Jr., had just sat down to eat wings in the Doll House office around 11 p.m. when the gold-painted doors burst open. By the time they returned to Long Island later that night, a pimp was born. More than anything, Galeota is grateful that his family kept faith in him. The message was that the cocaine traffickers would kill Yesters family members. But the Doll House and Moulin Rouge remain closed. "They murdered a guy in here a couple of days ago," Tony Galeota says. There was a spate of murders, several police raids, and a federal drug-trafficking trial. The Porky's party nearly came to a sudden end in early 1997. We both understand that.". During a visit last month, a New Times reporter witnessed one police official receive a $20 bill in a barely disguised handshake. "I thought I would kick up my heels together like 'Oh my God, I'm finally out,'" he says. Now the stranger-than-fiction story is brought to life in new documentary Operation Odessa, a film thats closer to a roller-coaster ride than anything else and premieres on Showtime March 31. Use tab to navigate through the menu items. See Photos. Bonnie also shoplifted booze to sustain her hard drinking habit. Finally, on May 23, the gate on Galeota's cramped cell swung open, and he was free to go. "I've done a lot of shady things in the States," he admits. "I've done a lot of shady things in the States," he admits. The year before, his father helped him land a job as a wedding DJ. It was coke or pimping or messing with the wrong people.. "I'm used to getting my water from a rain bucket, not hot from the tap." A tattoo of an Italian Mafioso emerges from an extra-large sleeveless T-shirt. His mother, Bonnie Gellilti, was "a bit of a criminal," Tony remembers. I have to tell you, all my enemies are dead, and Im happy, he says in the documentary. Tarzan and one of his partners, Fat Tony Galeota, had opened a strip club in Panama similar to a previous enterprise in Miami called Porkys but they landed behind bars in Central America. But he insists that, for once, he has done nothing wrong. Galeota is one of several Americans locked up here. We've received your submission. "You see who wants to fuck your wife, who wants to rob you, and who your real friends are.". 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, Texas man busted in death of DJ galpal found stuffed in suitcase in Colombia, Inside the luxe lives of El Chapo's sons including jailbird Ovidio Guzmn Lpez, Arizona officials say Mexican cartels control US border: 'Ticking time bomb', Passengers on Aeromexico flight crouch in fear as plane caught in cartel crossfire: video. But all the cops found were five grams of weed, a bottle of Viagra, and some mysterious yellow pills. source of local news and culture, Michael E. Miller "Everybody give me your money!" Facilitating it. But in South Florida, he was once a strip club king. He soon finds himself wanting to be a mobster, and starts running errands for them. Inside La Joya, he had paid a guard to smuggle in a BlackBerry to talk to his wife, but strangers kept calling with threats to kill his kids unless he paid them. Galeota is one of several Americans locked up here. If anything, Galeota's life got even more out of control after Fainberg's arrest. And he hopes to open a place in Fort Lauderdale when he's back. "We were doing fantastic, but Tarzan got bored and started living the life," Galeota explains. But Galeota's plan would soon go catastrophically wrong. And, above all, selling it. Prostitution is legal in Panama," he complains. As the authorities closed in, they picked up Juan and Tarzan, but they couldnt find Tony and neither could the cartel. "My wife could have left me. In court statements and interviews with New Times, they said Galeota gave them contracts to sign, cell phones and computers to use, and apartments in which to live. "My wife could have left me. His mother, Bonnie Gellilti, was "a bit of a. Tony Galeota. They went Maserati shopping by helicopter so they could look at the cars from the air. Update information for Tony Galeota . The club was very successful. October 4, 2012 Documentary Drama When Miami mobster Tony Galeota opens a club in Panama City, the competition frames him for drug dealing and human trafficking. He ogled the women standing on corners in their underwear and high heels. On a crowded balcony overlooking La Joya, Galeota describes the past 16 months as a nightmare. I definitely want his number and so I began chasing it from there and actually jumped on a plane, went down and smuggled myself into this Panamanian prison to meet with him.. Its a great satisfaction after being two months deployed and everybodys tired but you come home with a case like this its very satisfying, said Castro. Make a one-time donation today for as little as $1. the agent said. ", After bribing half the guards at La Joya, Galeota was taken to an immigration holding center in Panama City where he and four codefendants were kept for four more days. Join the New Times community and help support "This case has had a big impact here," says Jos Otero, a reporter for Panamanian newspaper La Prensa. He answered only to property owner William Seidle, a U.S. Bankruptcy Court trustee who ran a chain of car dealerships. And so from there, Juan showed up in Moscow with a vague, half-assed agreement with Tarzan he still had gotten me to come there without agreeing to be in the film, and he put me through the paces of taking me to the sauna and sort of took me on this insane kind of underworld tour of Moscow. A judge eventually dropped the human trafficking charge, but Galeota still rotted in his sordid cell alongside insects the size of small dogs. But Tony had darker secrets. 17:57 GMT 13 Mar 2018. Prostitutes were everywhere at the weddings, and when Tony asked another employee where they came from, the older kid took him to Manhattan's infamous West End. Galeota was hit with felony drug and prostitution charges. But she insists that her husband's imprisonment has brought them closer. A deep bass line rattled customers' chests as they downed overpriced drinks. Behind him, 12-foot-high fences topped with spools of barbed wire frame a muddy soccer field. "Whenever there is an American businessman involved in crime here in Panama, it becomes an important case. Unfortunately, Galeota's defense isn't as simple as quoting strippers, says his lawyer, Guillermina McDonald. His mother, Bonnie Gellilti, was "a bit of a criminal," Tony remembers. Galeota is no angelic Andy Dufresne, the main character in Shawshank who serves two decades behind bars for a crime he didn't commit. Panama became Galeota's personal paradise. ", "You hear that?" The year before, his father helped him land a job as a wedding DJ. Yester told the Colombians that theyd have to pay $35 million for the vessel, even though Tarzan had talked the price down to $5.5 million plus just $600 for a crew to pilot it to Colombia. Prisoners eat stale bread and a slice of cheese for breakfast; rice and sometimes beans is their lunch and dinner. Kenyan court is shown vital evidence ignored by police two years after his arrest over 4.5m cocaine haul, Body armor-clad Cancun cops are 'suspended' after posing for pictures with topless tourists on the beach, Isabel Oakeshott receives 'menacing' message from Matt Hancock, Ken Bruce: 'I always wanted to be a radio presenter from about 15', Pavement where disabled woman gestured at cyclist before fatal crash, Pro-Ukrainian drone lands on Russian spy planes exposing location, 'Buster is next!' I gave each of my kids a Rolex when they were 5 years old. He bought seven properties pretty much sight unseen.".

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